Naples Pizza Party, Day 4

Monday, Day 4 – Herculaneum and Party over.

Originally the plan was to all take a train to either Pompeii or Herculaneum and then lunch nearby – preferably pizza in keeping with Sharon’s birthday theme. We decided on Herculaneum because a few of us had already been to Pompeii. Before heading to the train station in the mini van the concierge had called for us, Aurel suggested Anna ask our driver what he would charge to actually take us to Herculaneum. He said 70 euros or 10 euros each. The driver then offered to wait while we toured the ruins and then take us to lunch in Sorrento. Anna negotiated 210 euros total  - 30 euros each.

Herculaneum is amazing in ways very different from what I remembered of Pompeii. The area of ruins is smaller and more compact. Unlike Pompeii, Herculaneum was a sea side resort, not a commercial city. Smaller villas – the equivalent of beach cottages. There are lots of tall walls still standing with charcoaled door lintels remaining from the Vesuvius eruption of 79 AD. Terrific mosaic floors and vivid red walls that are as fresh as yesterday. It had rained that morning and the grass and mosses were an amazing green. The scent of blooming mimosa, oranges and lemons lingered in the air. Spring comes earlier in Naples and the colors, scents and seaside setting reminded me of Selunite’s Greek ruins in Sicily. The recurring Neapolitan theme of Life and Death was heavy in the air.

We drove to Sorrento in a downpour. Eight years ago I traveled from Naples to Sorrento by train – a journey through lots of dreary towns. This time we drove along the winding coast - a route that was a mini and less scary version of the Amalfi Coast drive. We arrived in Sorrento around 3:30 and of course, everything was closed. Monday afternoon in the off-season. We drove around a bit and then found a small pizzeria/ristorante open just on the town’s central piazza. It looked dreadful and uninviting and most likely would have been awful anywhere else, but unlikely places in Italy often reward you with gastronomic pleasures.

Marguerita Pizza as a starter – the brick oven was prominently placed in the front of the restaurant. I had pasta fagiole ( a stew of small tubes of pasta with cranberry beans and plump little mussels.) Vigdis and Anna shared a serving of the pasta fagiole and a serving of cod roasted in olive oil and white wine. Erik and Aurel both had home-made spaghetti with frutti di mare and Sharon ordered gamberoni grillata. We drank a very young (2012) fresh and slightly effervescent white Lacryma Cristi which definitely tasted of the terroir of Vesuvius.

Erik, Vigdis, Me, Aurel, Anna, Sylvie and Sharon

 

Sharon, Forever Young 

 



Bay of Sorrento at Sunset

On the way back to Naples we stopped at a belvdere to take photos and to admire the twinkling lights of the Sorrento harbor in twilight. Back to the hotel for a little rest before our final pizza at Gino Sobello, the pizzeria the concierge had recommended our first day in Naples. We ordered three different pizzas: classic Marguerita (with Sharon’s added basil,) pizza with fresh artichokes and one with funghi (porcini mushrooms.) The crust was slightly tastier and a bit more charred than the pizza from Ciro e Mergellina. Both serve such superb pizza but everyone declared Gino Sobello the best. Who am I to argue?



The next morning Sharon and I accompanied Sylvia to one of Naples' market streets for a little food shopping. Then, everyone but Sharon and I dispersed for planes and trains home. She would leave later in the day so we managed our own last minute shopping – for ex voto's – the silver replicas of various body parts that are left in churches after a prayer for healing is answered. Sharon found two silver ex voto displaying eyes. She decided it would be great fun to have one mounted on a silver chain to wear when she next visits her ophthalmologist. She claims he has a great sense of humor and will "get it."

The next morning I went back to the market street, so I could fly home with fresh pastry for my husband - Sfogliatelli, his favorite.

Naples Pizza Party, Day 3

Metro mosaic featuring Vesuvius

Day 3 – January 19

Sylvie”s husband Erik arrived and the plan was for him to settle in and then we would all go to the Archeological Museum before lunch. I took the time to dash off to three nearby Metro Stations that I had read were decorated by various contemporary artists. I had done the same thing in Lisbon a few years ago. I started with the Dante station, near the hotel, then went to Universitá, then backtracked to Toledo and finally back to where I started – Dante.

Talk about sensory overload. So much art in so many colors and textures. So much beauty. At the first level down the escalator at Dante Station was a wall sculpture of lots of old shoes and clothing trapped behind sections of railroad tracks. I went down one more escalator of shiny stainless steel walls with glass panels overhead painted in bold swirls of red, black and white graphics. The walls of the station platform are decorated with tile mosaics of spacey shapes and forms in eye-popping colors: suns, moons, planets and stars in gold and lapis and silver.

On to “Toledo” station, where the floors on various levels are tiled in mind-bending Escher-like designs in customary, graphic black and white. The walls are covered in panels silk screened in hot pink and lime green squiggles and swirls. Color variations of the designs included Hot yellow, pink and blue or yellow and orange. The stairs at this station are graced with the portrait of a psychedelic, 70’s style woman. In contrast to the colorful wall graphics, a sinuous, rather sexy Carrara marble bench provides seating for passengers waiting for the trains. 

At “Universita” station I admired a photo montage covering the length of the walls on either side of a moving walkway down a long tunnel of faces staring back at you. Multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-age and compelling faces engaging you and sometimes seeming to stare you down.  Round the corner and you walk a corridor of photos of bigger than life people confronting you. Lastly a wall of pure whimsy and bits of poetry to remind you of the looming presence of Vesuvius. Wow.

 

















The Archeological Museum is famous for having all the good stuff from Pompeii and Herculaneum. The mosaic floors, statuary and richly painted wall panels – all looking as fresh as yesterday, were beautifully presented but as Vigdis pointed out, sadly out of their context. All of this would be research/preparation for our planned trip to Herculaneum the next day.

After looking at all that beauty, we were starved for lunch. We decided to try L’Ello, the restaurant next door to and owned by the hotel. It has the same “contempo/arty décor and design sensibility. It offered a buffet lunch ala NYC salad bar but the menu was fresher, home-cooked Italian specialties. Just like a salad bar it was priced by weight – 2.50 Euros per 100 grams  (about $3.00 per ounce) Lots of vegetable choices: spinach, grilled endive, braised radicchio, green beans, zucchini, sautéed eggplant cubes, roasted pepper, etc. For entrée: fish baked with potatoes, roast pork with rosemary, really tasty roast chicken, riso nero that was really superb, intensely flavored eggplant parmegiano (sliced very thin like a French Tian) veal meatballs, sausages, various pastas lots of cakes for desert. My bill was 12 euros or $16 – not bad for a pretty amazing lunch.

We all went back to our rooms for a little rest and then met for a long walk along the harbor to see the sunset. The weather was pretty raw – windy, cold and totally overcast – a real Turner sky with pounding surf at the embankment walls. The Mediterranean is usually so calm; this was unusual and quite gorgeous. After quite a long walk we all taxied back to the hotel to warm up, collect Aurel (Sharon’s dealer arriving from Berlin) and then re-emerge for Sharon’s big birthday dinner.



Erik,Sylvie,Sharon, Stephanie

  



Back to Ciro & Mergellina for Sharon’s Birthday party dinner. Seven of us: Sharon, Vigdis, Anna, Sylvie, Erik, Aurel and I. For starters we again ordered the octopus salad and Marguerita pizza (Sharon again whipped out ther package of fresh basil) and a platter of prosciutto and milky mozzarella. I had grilled gamberini ( even better than those from Antiche Ristorante) and a couple of grilled Branzino – soft’ sweet flesh with a terrific char on the bottom. We drank a couple of bottles of a very good 2009 Taurasi. Baba au Rhum for dessert. Of course, Sharon’s serving was graced with a birthday candle.

Naples Pizza Party, Day 2

Day 2 - Saturday, January 18

Sylvie arrived from Paris in the morning and after dropping off her luggage, we headed out for more churches, more art and more pizza. We started out at the Cloister of Santa Chiara to see the lovely majolica covered walls, benches and fountains in the peaceful surroundings of the cloister gardens. Sharon wanted to see a tomb sculpture  - the tour de force “Veiled Christ” at the San Severo Chapel in Via Francesco de Sanctis. The sculpted figure of the reclining, deceased Christ is shrouded with a diaphanous veil – a beautiful example of marble undercutting. Sharon declared it as lovely as the statue of Ilaria del Carretto in the Cathedral in Luca. On the walk back to Via Tribunali – street of pizza – for lunch, we popped into the church of San Gregorio Armeno on that street. I wanted to examine the organ, which I’d been told is constructed of wood and cartapesta (papier-mache.) The center altar is flanked by two wooden organs stalls riotously decorated with papier-mache angels, flowers and baroque flourishes, all gilded with gold leaf. All the signs said “no photos,” but I pleaded with the nun standing guard to allow me a few because I am a “studiosa,” a scholar. She agreed to let me document the lovely artisan work.

detail of an angel on organ

papier-mache decorated organ

Lunch at Decumani – another pizza restaurant Tony and I ate at 8 years ago.  Sylvie and I had the “Buffalino.’ Sliced cherry tomatoes, basil and covered with slices of especially creamy mozzarella di buffalo crowned with a small ball of cheese - a “buffalino” - in the center. A good crust but I wanted more char on the bottom. – what you usually get if you eat a later rather than earlier lunch because the oven is hotter and can give the crust a proper char.  Sharon wanted salad because she had gained two pounds – horrors! She asked for a salad of arugula and tomatoes – no pizza. The very earnest and lovely young waitress asked if Sharon wanted prosciutto. I think she couldn’t imagine a lunch of just greens and tomatoes. At the end of the meal Sharon asked for a coffee.  The waitress apologized – no caffe – and asked if we would like limoncello (an unctuously sweet lemon liquor – a specialty of the region.) At which point even Sharon had to laugh at the ridiculous suggestion.

We headed off down for a long walk on Via Toledo to see the Teatro San Carlo Opera house because I thought I’d been told that it too was decorated with papier-mache. Before our tour of Europe’s oldest opera theatre, we fueled ourselves with coffee and dolci at Caffe Gambrinus, the elegant literary café across the piazza from Teatro San Carlo. We ate Naples’ supposedly best baba au rhum and sfogliatelli, the other pastry specialty of Naples. Delicious.

Teatro San Carlo is a scarlet and gold confection – each upholstered seat a separate arm chair with ample leg room. I was a little disappointed to discover that the impressive decorative work adorning the walls is stucco or plaster, not papier mache. The harpsichord was being tuned – by an American musician, originally from Detroit - while we were admiring the surroundings. He suggested we should come back that night to see “Barber of Seville” and I was tempted but we had dinner plans. He told me he really wanted to go to New Orleans to hear traditional jazz and just soak up the atmosphere of a great city. As I joined the others for the rest of the tour, I heard him playing Ellington’s “Take the A Train” on the harpsichord – an interesting and amusing rendition of a jazz classic.

Vigdis – the other friend from Brooklyn – arrived around 5:00. Sylvie and Sharon decided to have a little rest, so Vigdis and I strolled the “crèche” street and stopped in a local wine bar/enoteca on Via Tribunali. I had a glass of the local Aglianico and she had a Proseco - an aperativo before collecting Sharon and Sylvie and heading off for dinner. Sharon had asked an Italian friend to recommend the best pizza in Naples and was told Ciro e Mergellina, at the waterfront, “has the best pizza in the world.” 

So, off we went, and what a dinner! We started with a very delicious Margherita pizza: luscious cheese and beautifully charred crust – the best so far. The waiter brought a plate of focaccia: slivers of chewy, tangy toasted pizza topped with salt and oregano. This was served with Sylvie’s octopus salad appetizer – definitely the best I’ve ever tasted: lemony, sweet and tender.

I ordered the pasta alla vongole – home made spaghetti, perfectly chewy al dente, with sweetly succulent clams in a simple garlic wine sauce. Often garlic is the dominant flavor but here it was a well-played note.  Sharon and Sylvie decided to share a grilled branzino: lovely moist white flesh atop deeply grilled, crunchy skin. Vigdis seemed a bit confused or overwhelmed (jet lag kicking in?) but ordered spaghetti carbonara. When the waiter brought her dish, it was clearly not what she wanted. The waiter was extremely helpful, suggesting other dishes in his limited English and was visibly relieved and happy when Vigdis decided she actually wanted spaghetti Bolognese. Bolognese! We all applauded and Vigdis was very pleased with her dinner. We all were.

Neapolitan drama of operatic proportions played out at the table behind us. Shortly after being seated, a young, attractive couple, in a lightning flash, had some horrible disagreement. They were behind Sharon and I but in full view of Sylvie and Vigdis, who gave us a blow-by-blow account of the action. Tears streamed down her cheeks as they silently and stonily sat looking away from each other. They were sitting side by side but their bodies stiffly angled out at 45 degrees. We very mature ladies were somewhat relieved such palpable passion was behind us, but we were also a little envious.

Sylvie announced, “Something happened because now they are in full lip lock.” Sharon and

I could no longer refrain from peeking as we whipped around to finally get a good look. They were all but pawing each other as they engaged in full “kiss & make-up.” They shared a pizza, argued a little over the check, but left arm in arm. Ah, romance and love! And to be young and have it all matter so much.

Naples Pizza Party, January 2014

Day 1 - Thursday/Friday, January 16/17

I went to Naples, Italy for a pizza party - a bang-up celebration for Sharon’s 70th birthday. Four days of pizza and maybe a little of splendid Neapolitan seafood is my idea of heaven. No direct flight to Naples so I flew to Paris and then connected to a flight to Naples. On the overnight flight to Paris, my seat companion was a lovely young man - a jazz guitarist - on his to Lyon for a gig. We talked music and theater - I had just seen the Duke Ellington review, “After Midnight,” which I highly recommended: a fabulous jazz orchestra, great singing and splendid tap dancing. I mentioned I had been to Lyon and he asked if I could recommend any restaurants. I was in Lyon maybe 10 years ago but I said oysters at the oyster bar in the market and duck and quenelles pretty much anywhere. In Lyon, go for duck and quenelles.

I dozed a bit waiting for my connection at Charles De Gaulle Airport, and then dozed some more on the flight to Naples. I woke like a shot as we began our descent and there looming outside the window was Vesuvius. I love flying into Naples - there’s the beautiful bay and that majestic volcano - still active but thankfully, quiescent.

We landed, of course the taxi overcharged me and after a wild ride, I arrived at the very lovely Hotel Piazza Bellini, located in the historic center, across from Piazza Bellini. The hotel's décor is contemporary but filled with warm and whimsical artistic touches. I decided to take a little nap before the arrival of Sharon, the birthday girl. She woke me an hour and a half later and then we were off for pizza - I was truly starving - and then a walk through the historic center to see churches and the art therein.

The concierge told us we would find lots of pizza restaurants on Via Tribunali in the nearby historic centre, but she said the best is Gino Sobillo. Everyone has a favorite and we were more than willing to try hers. We ended up at Sobillo - a relative of Gino [kind of like all the Ray's Pizzas in New York.] Supposedly not as good as Gino's but I thought it was fine, although the crust could have had a bit more char. Very good cheese and sweet tomato flavor.

We had amazingly good coffee at the corner of Tribunali and S. Gregorio Armeno. I hadn't had any coffee that day - just won't drink airplane swill - so I really appreciated the great coffee at the corner cafe. Then we walked down via S. Gregorio Armeno - the street of crèche or in Italian, presepio (mangers) Terribly kitch but I love the stuff and Sharon generously tolerated my need to take it all in.

On Via San Biagio we encountered the baroque madness of the church of Gesu Nuevo.  Sharon’s comment: "If it ain't baroque, don't fix it." After getting through so much sensory overload with our sense of good taste still intact we entered the Capella Della Visitazione, which is totally devoted to ex voto. The mostly silver representations of body parts (arms, legs, torso, eyes, hearts, lungs, backs and heads covered the walls from floor to ceiling and the ceiling as we'll. Ex voto, a kind of Catholic voodoo, are left in chapels by supplicants who have had their prayers answered and received their cures.

Further down the street we stepped into Sant’ Angelo a Nilo, a church that promised a Donetello sculpture, It turned out to be second rate work by his students but directly opposite in the chapel of Statuaria Sacra was a spectacular sculpture - a tomb monument - of a skeleton climbing from a grave. Expressive and delicate, it was another example of Neapolitan fascination with death and mortality. Among all the kitchy mangers on the street of presepio, are statues of sports figures, politicians and other notables, all engulfed in flames. We saw lots of glass enclosed street shrines with flaming figurines and much of the iron work fences are decorated with brass skulls, worn away with constant rubbing. Maybe it's about living at the foot of a volcano.

We had dinner at Antica Trattoria on via Tribunali,near S. Gregorio Armeno. My husband Tony and I had a lovely dinner there eight years ago. Sharon, who is a perennial “weight-watcher” decided after a pizza lunch, she wanted a dinner of salad or vegetables. From the antipasto buffet: braised artichokes, spinach, and sautéed peppers - all perfectly cooked. I also had the artichokes and big fat grilled shrimps that were sweetly succulent.